Season Recap: Honors Aplenty For Men's Swimming and Diving in 2009-10

The Harvard men’s swimming and diving team entered the
2009-10 with a young squad, full of talent and led by a core of six
seniors. After testing its mettle against Big 12 power Texas
A&M to start the season, the team went on to post a 7-2 record
on the season and a second place finish in the Ancient Eight. Four
athletes were named to the All-Ivy team, and the Crimson took home
plenty of hardware that helped define yet another successful
season.

The Crimson kicked off its season against the Aggies Nov. 13 and
captured three events despite falling 131.5 to 102.5 in the meet.
Senior Mason Brunnick claimed Harvard’s first victory of the
season, as he won the 500-yard freestyle by touching the wall in
4:39.12. Freshman Owen Wurzbacher led a 1-2-3 finish in the 200
breaststroke at his first collegiate meet, narrowly edging teammate
Justin Davidson. Wurzbacher swam the race in 2:07.66, while
Davidson, a junior, posted a time of 2:07.69. Junior Evan
Schindewolf was third with a mark of 2:16.41. Harvard also claimed
first in the 400 freestyle relay, as the foursome of sophomores
Nicholas DuCille, Eric Taylor and Matthew McLean and freshman
Brendan McIntee cruised past Texas A&M with a collective time
of 3:07.59.

Harvard opened its Ivy season the next day in a tri-meet with
Cornell and Dartmouth in Ithaca, N.Y., and put forth a strong
effort in downing the Big Red, 177-123, and the Big Green, 237-63.
The Crimson captured nine events on the day, beginning with the 200
medley relay and followed by a one-two-three-four finish in the
1,000 free, fronted by Brunnick with a time of 9:28.86. Junior
Douwe Yntema delivered Harvard’s third-straight win with a
victory in the 200 free and sophomore Robert Newell followed with
wins in the 100 and 200 back. Senior Zac Ranta took the title in
the one-meter diving competition and finished second in the
three-meter event to help the Crimson effort.

The month of December saw the team swim in just one competition,
but it proved to be a tough test as the Crimson faced Georgia,
Florida, Denver and Auburn at the Georgia Invitational Dec. 4-6.
Harvard took fourth at the meet and saw a number of its swimmers
turn in strong performances. Wurzbacher won the 100 breast title
with a time of 56.91 and placed fourth in the 200 breast a day
later with a mark of 2:05.90. Senior Alex Meyer swam an NCAA
“B” cut in the 1,650 free, taking fourth in the event
with a time of 15:31.23.

The New Year opened with a return to Ivy action and Harvard
responded with a confident 183-117 win over Penn on the road. The
Crimson took 10 of 16 events, highlighted by Nicholas Tan’s
victories in the 100 and 200 fly races. Meyer took the titles in
the 500 and 1,000 free races and Newell captured both the 100 and
200 back events. Freshman Michael Stanton garnered the title in the
three-meter diving competition while Ranta took second in the
one-meter.

The Crimson divers paved the way to victory in the team’s
next meet, as Harvard edged Brown, 127-116, in its closest meet of
the season Jan. 22. Stanton’s score of 304.88 was enough to
claim the one-meter title, while Ranta amassed 331.88 points to
seal the win in the three-meter competition. Brunnick earned a win
in the 1,000 free and Tan turned in a time of 46.49 to take the 100
free. Meyer earned the win in the 500 free with a time of 4:36.63
and Wurzbacher capped off Harvard’s event wins with a
first-place showing in the 100 breast.

Just a day after taking down the Bears, Harvard welcomed local
non-conference rival Boston University to Blodgett Pool and handed
the Terriers a 201-99 defeat on Senior Day. The hosts took an
impressive 13 of 16 total events and had four individuals capture
multiple event wins. Niall Janney paced the Crimson with wins in
the 200 fly and 400 individual medley while Newell captured the 100
and 200 back races. Brunnick took the title in both the 200 and 500
freestyles and Ranta owned the boards against the Terriers, winning
both the one and three-meter competitions.

In its final Ivy meet of the season, Harvard had the tall task
of challenging defending champion Princeton at its home pool while
also squaring off against Yale in the annual HYP meet. The Crimson
put up 242 points against Yale, taking down the Bulldogs 242-106
and suffered its first defeat of the conference schedule with a
203-150 loss to the Tigers.

Alex Meyer led the charge on day one of the HYP meet, fronting a
one-two-three Harvard finish in the 1,650 free with a time of
15:30.80. Michael Stanton followed with a win in the three-meter
diving competition, totaling 339.55 points, and the Crimson
captured its third straight event as Brunnick touched the wall
first in the 200 free. Jordan Diekema added to the Harvard effort
with a win in the 100 back. Day two saw Brunnick lead a quartet of
top Harvard finishers in the 500 free and Janney took the title in
the 400 IM.

At the ECAC Championships, Harvard looked to defend its title
with a young, talented squad. The Crimson started the meet with a
runner-up finish in the 200 free relay, and DuCille followed with a
second-place finish in the 50 free. Schindewolf earned the first
event win for Harvard, claiming the 400 IM in 4:00.91. The 800 free
relay team picked up a win at the end of day two, and the 400 free
relay took the title in the final race of the meet to seal a
runner-up overall finish.

The Ivy Championships were hosted by Princeton at DeNunzio Pool,
and while the defending champion Tigers took the overall title,
Harvard earned a number of individual awards at the meet. Meyer
grabbed titles in three events, winning the 500, 1,000 and 1,650
free races and received the Harold S Ulen Award (career high-point
swimmer) and the Phil Moriarty Award (meet high-point swimmer) at
the conclusion of the meet. Stanton won both diving competitions
and received the Karl B. Michael Award, given to the top-scoring
diver at the meet. Diekema earned first-team All-Ivy status with a
win in the 100 back and Lewkowitz earned second-team All-Ivy
accolades in the 1,650 free. Diekema also received Academic All-Ivy
honors for his combined efforts in the pool and the classroom.

After the completion of the dual season, Harvard had
representatives at both the NCAA Zone A Diving Championships and
the NCAA Swimming and Diving Championships. Stanton competed in
both the one and three-meter events at the zone competition. After
qualifying for the three-meter finals in 12th position, Stanton
finished 11th in the competition with a total of 582.95 points. The
freshman also finished in 11th position in the one-meter event,
compiling 572.65 points.

Meyer was the lone NCAA qualifier for Harvard and looked to join
the legacy of All-American Crimson swimmers. Seeded with a time of
15:05.55 in the 1,650 free, the senior took over seven seconds off
his seed time, finishing with a mark of 14:58.13, taking 14th place
in the event and earning All-America status.

After the completion of the 2009-10 season, the team held its
annual awards banquet to recognize the team’s success and
honor its seniors. Douwe Yntema received the Reid Jorgensen Trophy,
given to the most improved junior on the squad, and Rick McKellar
was awarded the Stowell Trophy, given to the most improved senior.
Brunnick received the Eugene B. Wyman Trophy for scoring the most
points in dual meets and the Harold S. Ulen Trophy, awarded for
outstanding senior leadership, went to Tommy Gray. Alex Meyer and
Michael Stanton received the William J. Brooks Trophy, given
annually to the swimmer and diver that contribute the most to the
team’s success.

With a pair of runner-up finishes at the ECAC and Ivy
Championships and an All-America honoree, the men’s swimming
and diving team had a successful season, building on the strong
tradition of Harvard men’s swimming and diving.